Question.
What do you guys tend to like in a YouTube channel that focuses on analysing/critiquing fictional media (games, anime, TV shows, movies, and the things within them like their characters, or mechanics in the case of games)?
I don't want to use the term "review" because that's not what I have in mind exactly.
Comparable examples would include channels like Ghast Station and his Support Science series, pretty much anything made by Best Guy Ever that isn't a blatant ****post video, TotalBiscuit and his PC Port Report series, or A+ Start's Low Poly series.
Do you tend to prefer something a bit more deadpan and focused purely on the analytical side with light and subtle humour on occasion with not a lot of crazy edits, or do you prefer something that's a bit more spontaneous with a lot of "editing humour" while still retaining an analytical angle?
Totally asking for a friend and not because I'm thinking about making a proper YouTube channel.
Had to take a few minutes and watch some content from the people you listed to get an impression of what you were talking about. By no means was I comprehensive - when everyone's running 15-30 min videos I can't be comprehensive in an hour and a half - but from what I watched, enjoyment went A+ > Best Guy Ever > Ghast Station >>>> TotalBiscuit.
I don't think the style of humor matters between the two mattered to me so much as the presentation. To give examples from yours:
Ghast covers lots of content, but doesn't generally feel like he's wandering or retreading and clearly took some time to refine his messages. Respected the content, but the man definitely needs some BGM, or at least more emotion in his voice; felt just a little too lecture-hall-y for my taste.
Best Guy Ever is a fair communicator off the cuff (feel like he spends some rehearsal time before certain videos, like the hentai one, and definitely edits in the best parts from multiple takes where he can) and was definitely the most entertaining of the bunch. Dude himself seems slightly stuck up - not in the message, just in the delivery - but otherwise his methods work and I dig it.
A+ seems to combine the best of both of those aspects in Low Poly. Solid discussion, solid editing, solid presentation, covers tons, no wandering or retreading. Soon as I'm done typing this, he's what I'm going to watch more of.
TotalBiscuit has decent enough points, but it feels unfocused, like I have to dig through thirty minutes of content that could have been delivered in ten. He speaks like the kids in Family Circus walk - he gets where he's going eventually, but his path getting there is some unholy concoction of circuitous and slow. Lots of pauses, seems to loop back on himself a lot, self-summarizes a fair bit. Slogged through the first ten minutes of the Arkham Knight and NieR: Automata Port Reports and felt like I wasn't getting a good ROI for my time.
Kind of understand the situation because, unfiltered, I talk most like TotalBiscuit myself. He emotes well, though. Feel like he'd be a million times better with rehearsal, a script, or an editor.